scholarly journals A Trajectory Planning Method for Autonomous Valet Parking via Solving an Optimal Control Problem

Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (22) ◽  
pp. 6435
Author(s):  
Chen Chen ◽  
Bing Wu ◽  
Liang Xuan ◽  
Jian Chen ◽  
Tianxiang Wang ◽  
...  

In the last decade, research studies on parking planning mainly focused on path planning rather than trajectory planning. The results of trajectory planning are more instructive for a practical parking process. Therefore, this paper proposes a trajectory planning method in which the optimal autonomous valet parking (AVP) trajectory is obtained by solving an optimal control problem. Additionally, a vehicle kinematics model is established with the consideration of dynamic obstacle avoidance and terminal constraints. Then the parking trajectory planning problem is modeled as an optimal control problem, while the parking time and driving distance are set as the cost function. The homotopic method is used for the expansion of obstacle boundaries, and the Gauss pseudospectral method (GPM) is utilized to discretize this optimal control problem into a nonlinear programming (NLP) problem. In order to solve this NLP problem, sequential quadratic programming is applied. Considering that the GPM is insensitive to the initial guess, an online calculation method of vertical parking trajectory is proposed. In this approach, the offline vertical parking trajectory, which is calculated and stored in advance, is taken as the initial guess of the online calculation. The selection of an appropriate initial guess is based on the actual starting position of parking. A small parking lot is selected as the verification scenario of the AVP. In the validation of the algorithm, the parking trajectory planning is divided into two phases, which are simulated and analyzed. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm is efficient in solving a parking trajectory planning problem. The online calculation time of the vertical parking trajectory is less than 2 s, which meets the real-time requirement.

Author(s):  
Yuhang Jiang ◽  
Shiqiang Hu ◽  
Christopher J Damaren

Flight collision between unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in mid-air poses a potential risk to flight safety in low-altitude airspace. This article transforms the problem of collision avoidance between quadrotor UAVs into a trajectory-planning problem using optimal control algorithms, therefore achieving both robustness and efficiency. Specifically, the pseudospectral method is introduced to solve the raised optimal control problem, while the generated optimal trajectory is precisely followed by a feedback controller. It is worth noting that the contributions of this article also include the introduction of the normalized relative coordinate, so that UAVs can obtain collision-free trajectories more conveniently in real time. The collision-free trajectories for a classical scenario of collision avoidance between two UAVs are given in the simulation part by both solving the optimal control problem and querying the prior results. The scalability of the proposed method is also verified in the simulation part by solving a collision avoidance problem among multiple UAVs.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Dinesh B. Seenivasan ◽  
Alberto Olivares ◽  
Ernesto Staffetti

This paper studies the trajectory planning problem for multiple aircraft with logical constraints in disjunctive form which arise in modeling passage through waypoints, distance-based and time-based separation constraints, decision-making processes, conflict resolution policies, no-fly zones, or obstacle or storm avoidance. Enforcing separation between aircraft, passage through waypoints, and obstacle avoidance is especially demanding in terms of modeling efforts. Indeed, in general, separation constraints require the introduction of auxiliary integer variables in the model; for passage constraints, a multiphase optimal control approach is used, and for obstacle avoidance constraints, geometric approximations of the obstacles are introduced. Multiple phases increase model complexity, and the presence of integer variables in the model has the drawback of combinatorial complexity of the corresponding mixed-integer optimal control problem. In this paper, an embedding approach is employed to transform logical constraints in disjunctive form into inequality and equality constraints which involve only continuous auxiliary variables. In this way, the optimal control problem with logical constraints is converted into a smooth optimal control problem which is solved using traditional techniques, thereby reducing the computational complexity of finding the solution. The effectiveness of the approach is demonstrated through several numerical experiments by computing the optimal trajectories of multiple aircraft in converging and intersecting arrival routes with time-based separation constraints, distance-based separation constraints, and operational constraints.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Gregory ◽  
Alberto Olivares ◽  
Ernesto Staffetti

In this paper, we study the trajectory planning problem for planar underactuated robot manipulators with two revolute joints in the absence of gravity. This problem is studied as an optimal control problem in which, given the dynamic model of a planar horizontal robot manipulator with two revolute joints one of which is not actuated, the initial state, and some specifications about the final state of the system, we find the available control input and the resulting trajectory that minimize the energy consumption during the motion. Our method consists in a numerical resolution of a reformulation of the optimal control problem as an unconstrained calculus of variations problem in which the dynamic equations of the mechanical system are regarded as constraints and treated using special derivative multipliers. We solve the resulting calculus of variations problem using a numerical approach based on the Euler-Lagrange necessary condition in integral form in which time is discretized and admissible variations for each variable are approximated using a linear combination of piecewise continuous basis functions of time. The use of the Euler-Lagrange necessary condition in integral form avoids the need for numerical corner conditions and the necessity of patching together solutions between corners.


2017 ◽  
Vol 194 ◽  
pp. 588-595 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shouyang Wei ◽  
Yuan Zou ◽  
Fengchun Sun ◽  
Onder Christopher

Robotica ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-152
Author(s):  
Hamidreza Heidari ◽  
Martin Saska

SUMMARYQuadrotors are unmanned aerial vehicles with many potential applications ranging from mapping to supporting rescue operations. A key feature required for the use of these vehicles under complex conditions is a technique to analytically solve the problem of trajectory planning. Hence, this paper presents a heuristic approach for optimal path planning that the optimization strategy is based on the indirect solution of the open-loop optimal control problem. Firstly, an adequate dynamic system modeling is considered with respect to a configuration of a commercial quadrotor helicopter. The model predicts the effect of the thrust and torques induced by the four propellers on the quadrotor motion. Quadcopter dynamics is described by differential equations that have been derived by using the Newton–Euler method. Then, a path planning algorithm is developed to find the optimal trajectories that meet various objective functions, such as fuel efficiency, and guarantee the flight stability and high-speed operation. Typically, the necessary condition of optimality for a constrained optimal control problem is formulated as a standard form of a two-point boundary-value problem using Pontryagin’s minimum principle. One advantage of the proposed method can solve a wide range of optimal maneuvers for arbitrary initial and final states relevant to every considered cost function. In order to verify the effectiveness of the presented algorithm, several simulation and experiment studies are carried out for finding the optimal path between two points with different objective functions by using MATLAB software. The results clearly show the effect of the proposed approach on the quadrotor systems.


Author(s):  
Heng Mai

The convergence of the novel Legendre-Gauss method is established for solving a continuous optimal control problem using collocation at Legendre-Gauss points. The method allows for changes in the number of Legendre-Gauss points to meet the error tolerance. The continuous optimal control problem is first discretized into a nonlinear programming problem at Gauss collocations by the Legendre-Gauss method. Subsequently, we prove the convergence of the Legendre-Gauss algorithm under the assumption that the continuous optimal control problem has a smooth solution. Compared with those of the shooting method, the single step method, and the general pseudospectral method, the numerical example shows that the Legendre-Gauss method has higher computational efficiency and accuracy in solving the optimal control problem.


Author(s):  
Konstantinos Makantasis ◽  
Markos Papageorgiou

A path-planning algorithm for automated road vehicles on multi-lane motorways is derived from the opportune formulation of an optimal control problem. In this framework, the objective function to be minimized contains appropriate respective terms to reflect: the goals of the vehicle advancement; passenger comfort; prevailing traffic rules (e.g., overtaking only from left); and the avoidance of obstacles (other moving vehicles) and of the vehicle departing from the road. Each term is coupled with a weighting factor that reflects its comparative importance. For the numerical solution of the optimal control problem, a very efficient feasible direction algorithm is used. To avoid local minima, a simplified dynamic programming algorithm is also conceived to deliver the initial guess trajectory for the optimal control algorithm. With low computation times, the approach is readily executable within a model-predictive control frame. The performance of the proposed algorithm is illustrated using two typical driving scenarios.


Author(s):  
Xinglong Zhang ◽  
Youqun Zhao ◽  
Wenxin Zhang ◽  
Fen Lin ◽  
Liguo Zang

To study the influence of road adhesion coefficient on lane changing steering input, vehicle handling inverse dynamics based on hp-adaptive Radau pseudospectral method is proposed in this article. First, a steering inverse dynamics model is established and then the inverse dynamics problem is converted into an optimal control problem. Second, by applying the hp-adaptive Radau pseudospectral method, the optimal control problem is converted into a nonlinear programming problem, which is then solved through sequential quadratic programming. Besides, two contrast verifications are carried out to validate the correctness and advantages of the proposed method. The simulation results show that the obtained control input satisfies the vehicle dynamic constraints. And comparing with Gauss Pseudospectral Method (GPM), hp-adaptive Radau pseudospectral method has higher computational accuracy and computational efficiency when solving non-smooth problem. The study of optimal steering input can provide guidance for driver’s lane changing behavior, so that the accident rate caused by human factors can be decreased. The proposed method can provide a reference value into the active safety of manned and unmanned vehicles.


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